Piano attachment



March 21, 1961 M. RoTHMAN ET AL PIANO ATTACHMENT Filed May 13. 1958 YINVENToRb 727% lefma, um; @B'wn 51A/472131 ATTORNEY M HMMHHMMHMMHMMU MHWMMMHHAMHHW a ao a ea Y www@ .Q sw 1% @LETS Martin Rothman, 2895 GrandBernstein, "1240 Walton Ave.,

This invention -reIteStO'gfa piano 'attachment and more particularlyltova 'device vfor lmodifying the normal tone PIANO ATTACHMENT Concourse,and VIrving 'both 'of Bronx, N.Y.

Filed May` 13, 1958, Ser. No. 734,938 y2' Claims. (Cl. 84`-"224') of thepiano.

It'has been known in `the 'past 'to `provide a piano attachinent whereina tone changing, or a muling device 'rposed 'be'twejen the `hammers ofthe `Wh`envmling was desired, the device comprised afabric strip,generally of felt or the 'When it was ydesired to provide different toneis optionally inte piano and the strings.

like.

effects, the device comprised a fle gral hanging strips lat Vthe endsbuttons or the like which Vare str which, in turn, struck the strinwalls rods permits'the 'deviceto bei the rod in place. therefrom is thefact that the or horizontally shifted as de modify the tone ,-pr Wishesto produce or lower or later g bodily so that the hanging strips.v

achieve in prior d one position.

A most important object of this invention is also the provision ofhanging strips which are instable in accordance with the the hammers ofan permits installation xible back having inte` of which were metallicuck by the hammer and gs to lproduce a varying ype have been`objectionable in pecially formed and installed in y event, wereincapable of satisfactory In most cases, thenstallation was mechanie and'was generally required to be done at In "regard t'o`the`va'r'ying tonedevices, once inability 'to adju/stthe same became a probe, whereas thehammers of a piano might warping or the like, the tone modifying stripsn their preset position so notes lwould not be varied and the devicebecame therefore defective or ind, we have devised a piano ply installedin most pianos Thus, 'we have devised the ying device in combinationtrolled holder which may be engaging the opposing side of the piano. Thespring 'action of the telescoping nstalled vby simply depositing 'Aparticular advantage to be derived `rod can thus be vertically sired inorder to further oduced. In v'other words, if theplayer differenteffects he can simply raise ally adjust the tone changing device hammerstrikes different portions ofthe This result has been impossible toevices which were preset in substantially individually adpositioning orlocation of y particular piano. Thus, our device of the device in anysuitable piano, and also permits the strips to be shifted in accordancewith the individual spacing of the hammers in any such piano, oldor new.A most importa structure is that if the positions o due to aging andwarping of the suppo the individual strips of this invention shiftedaccordingly in order to meet the tions.

Thus, it will be recognized that nt advantage of such f the hammersshift rting structures, may simply be changed condiour device not'2,975,665 Patented Mar. 2l, 1961 L only adapts the piano attachmentfor'simple installation in most pianos but even improves an originalinstallation in that the hanging strips can be shifted in accordancewith structural changes in the piano pursuant to aging or the like.

The invention will be further understood from the following `descriptionand drawings in which:

Figure l is a fragmentary view of the-upper portion of an upright pianowith the front removed to expose the upper portions of the strings, thetone modifying iat--` takenv the device when employed as to 3, the.piano illustrated-is 10 and 11, as well as a top wall 12 which isgenerally hinged at the back to provide access to the interior of thepiano. The eighty-eight notes of the piano are produced through strings13 which are secured by conventional means `to the piano back 14.

1 I t will be understood that the pianoconstruction per se is purelyconventional including the inclination of Some of the strings andarrangement of others in groups. A series of conventional felt hammersnormally strike the strings 13 so as to produce the tones. Ourattachment is interposed between the series of hammers and the stringsas will hereinafter be made clear.

The main body of our device comprises an elongated, collapsible andextensible rod. In the form shown, it comprises a telescopic tube havinga central section .15 and two telescoped end sections 16 and 17. -Endsections 16 and 17 may be solid or tubular. They are provided at theirouter-ends with tips or heads v18 ofsoft rubber or the like which arefrictionally secured thereover.

Disposed within the respective ends of central section 15 are coilsprings 19 which have their inner ends seated against or slightly coiledabout stops 20. lStops 20 may simply be an annular collar Vindented inthe body of the tube portion 15. End sections 16 and 17 are connected toand bear against the outer ends of springs 19 so that said end sectionsare normally outwardly directed. The

connection involves simply the hooking of the spring outer end into ahole in the Vend section so thatthe end section is prevented fromliyin'g outwardly pursuant to the spring action. When it is desired toinstall the device in a piano, 'sections 16 and 17 are telescoped orcollapsed inwardly against the action of vsprings 19 and the device isplaced in position whereupon the end sections l16 and 17 will be urgedoutwardly by springs 19 into rm contact with the inner surfaces of sidewalls 10 and v11.

Suspended over tube sections 15, 16 and 17 are exible strips 21 havingmetallic or otherwise rigid buttons 22 disposed at the free, lower endsthereof. Strips 21 may be of fabric such as canvas, or may be of cottonfabric coated with rubber. The strips are formed wit-h a circular orannular top portion designed to embrace and effect rm frictional Contactwith tube sections 15-17, although slidable thereon to permit horizontaladjustment. A clip 23, which may be an ordinary staple, serves todetermine the size of the top, circular end of strip 21. Strip 21further comprises a downwardly depending arm 24 at the free end of whichis secured the button 22. Button 22 may be a metal clip folded aroundthe lower end of the strip as is well known.

The device is employed by threading the strips 21, usually eighty-eightof them, over the three tube sections 15-17 and simply installing thetube sections between sidewalls and 11 as above set forth. Buttons 22.will bev interposed between the piano hammers 25 and the strings 13 asillustrated in Figure 3. Each piano hammer 25 must strike one of thestrips Z1, in most cases exactly broadside. Accordingly, the strips 21are individually horizontally shifted until each one is in correctposition relative to each of the hammers 25. The individual strips 21permit such adjustment regardless of the individual variations in thehammers of different pianos. Further, if a hammer varies in spacing, byaccident or aging, the strips can nevertheless be easily shifted to meetany such conditions. The strips, through their frictional engagementwith the tube sections to 17 will remain in any set position. The actionof the hammers instriking the buttons have substantially no effect uponthe positioning of the strips because the depending portions 24 are veryilexible and do not transmit forces from the button 22 tothe uppercircular portions. Accordingly, the strips will remain in their presetposition.

It will be noted that the entire device can be shifted vertically inaccordance with the arrows 26 (Figures l and 3). This is an importantfactor because a player might wish to vary the extent of coactionbetween the hammers 2.5 and the buttons 22. Thus ,he may prefer theentire buttons to be struck or only a portion thereof. The verticalvariation is easily effected and the rod will remain as set due to thefrictional engagement of the rubber heads 1S as urged outwardly by thesprings 19. Furthermore, the device may be shifted horizontally asindicated by the arrows 27 to vary other factors such as the amplitudeand the tone. In addition, the strips can be shifted to strike less thanall of the group of strings constituting a note for further varying theeiects.

It can be seen from the foregoing that our device not only makespossible the use of the attachment in substantially all upright orsimilar piano with the utmost simplicity of installation but improvesthe results secured as a whole regardless of such simplicity.

In Figure 4 we show how the tube sections 15-17 may be used with a tonemuffler 28. Mutller 28 has a top tubular portion encircling the tubesand a depending portion which is interposed between the hammers and thestrings just as are the flexible strips. Muffler 28 has cut-outs 29 inorder to accommodate structural formations (the cross-bar pins) in mostpianos as will be recognized by those skilled in the art. The form ofthe muffler 28 is not, of itself, new. The spring-actuated, telescopicnature of the tube sections permit tion of the muffler With bothhorizontal and vertical adjustability in accordance with the playersdesire. Further,lour device makes the mufer 28 easily replaceable sinceit need merely be threaded over the rod.

As examples of desirable dimensions, but without any limitations of thisinvention, we point out that a suitable dimension for the centralsection 15 of the rod is 50 inches while the end sections may be l0inches. Collars or stops the simplified installal 20 may be 13% inchesfrom the ends of section 15 and the normal length of springs 19 may be13 inches. It is also feasible, as will be obvious, to divide section 15into two sections of 25 inches each, this expedient being useful infacilitating transportation or shipping.

We have shown what are considered to be preferred embodiments of ourinvention but it is obvious that numerous changes and omissions may bemade without departing from its spirit.

What is claimed is:

l. A piano attachment for use in 'a piano having two opposing sidewalls, said attachment comprising an elongated composite, tubular rodformed from a plurality of tubular sections, spring means enclosedwithin at least one section and acting on a succeeding section fornormally longitudinally extending said sections relative to each other,frictional engaging heads secured to the respective outer ends of thecomposite rod whereby the rod may be suspended pursuant to said springmeans between said two opposing side walls, a plurality of individualilexible strips suspended from said rod and rigid buttons disposed onthe lower ends of said strips, said buttons being adapted to beinterposed between the hammers and the strings of a piano, each of saidstrips being individually horizontally adjustable on said rod, saidstrips being formed with annular top portions which frictionally embracethe rod and are slidable thereon.

2. The combination with an upright piano having an upper string andhammer section within opposing side walls of the piano, of a tonemodifying attachment, said attachment comprising a collapsible andextensible elongated rod, spring means acting on said rod for normallyextending it longitudinally, frictional engaging heads on the respectiveends of said rod frictionally suspending the rod from said opposing sidewalls, and tone modifying means suspended from said rod and disposedbetween the strings and the hammers of said piano section, said rodbeing freely movable along said side walls to vary the position of saidtone modifying means, said tone modifyving means comprising individualflexible strips each independently slidable over said rod for horizontaladjustment thereon and adapted to be interposed between each hammer andassociated string, said strips being formed with annular top portionswhich frictionally engage said rod.

. Y References Cited in the tile of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS

